Terese and Leif Kristiansen are currently living through one of a parent’s worst nightmares: Their 12-year-old son, Kai, was removed from the family home in As, Norway by force earlier this month. Kai attempted to run away from the police and social workers in order to stay with his family, and so the little boy was chased down, tackled in the snow, and dragged away. The boy has only been allowed to speak to his mother once since his state abduction, and his parents do not even know where their son is being kept.

Insanely enough, the Kristiansens are not accused of any abusive behavior towards their son. Rather, the parents had grown increasingly concerned about the bullying their son faced at school and had made the decision to homeschool him. The Kristiansens had informed the school of their decision—homeschooling isn’t illegal in Norway—and had also informed Barnevernet, the “child protection agency” that showed up to take their son away. The reason given for this government kidnapping was rife with painful irony: Apparently, social workers were concerned that if Kai were homeschooled, he would not be appropriately “socialized.” They didn’t comment on the trauma they had inflicted by removing a boy from a loving home by force and against his will.